Seattle's best

This was our last day with our Jeep Cherokee - we dropped off one of our quartet at the airport in Portland and drove up to Seattle. We dropped off the car at the airport and took the train to the city.

After being in so many hot places (with the exception of SF), the gloomy, chilly weather that greeted us in Seattle was a bit of shock. Apparently just before we arrived, the weather had been warm and sunny, but the true climate of Seattle was what had greeted us.

Wintered

February always feels like the midst of an unending winter with the bitter cold and dirty snowbanks. I actually enjoy snow and winter sports, but the grey skies definitely make it harder to keep a cheery attitude on the daily. Fighting the winter blues has always been an ongoing struggle, but I have noticed a few things that have made a positive difference over the last few years.

Looking forward to summer might not always be easy, but making plans for weekend trips or vacation always gives me something to look forward to. Plans for warmer weather such as beach days, camping trips, or hikes. Making vacation plans in the winter also allows for ample time for planning - it also gives me greater incentive to watch my spending in order to budget for travelling.

Keeping Portland weird

We spent our first morning in Portland eating a classic American breakfast at the Original Pancake House.

16 hours in a car

The drive from Yosemite to Portland is about 12 hours, no stopping, no traffic. We got up early and made ourselves some breakfast at our inn in Mammoth Lakes; I had frozen blueberry waffles with peanut butter, jam, and syrup, yogurt, orange juice and some herbal tea. We all grabbed a banana for the road, I signed the wall, and we loaded the car and got ready for our long journey northwest.

At long last, Yosemite

We left behind the chilly Bay Area for the warm valley early in the morning; after a stop for coffee, we arrived in Yosemite Valley. After $30 USD, we were in and cruising along the national park of my dreams.

Back in the bay

After exactly two years I came back to the Bay Area. We stayed in Pacifica and that first night was very interesting to say the least - but our Airbnb host was very welcoming and made us feel right at home. It was also around 9 to 12 degrees Celcius in the evening and only 18 degrees in the day - it was quite the chilly greeting compared to the 25-30 degree weather of L.A.

Trying to find parking was a disaster. When we finally found a place, we grabbed some Philz and headed to see the SFMoMA.

Tokyo; the city of efficiency

Our overwhelming takeaways from our Asia trip was definitely that everything was more efficient, more technologically advanced, and just made so much more sense than back home. Also, we don't know how they did it, but Tokyo has mastered the art of the egg. Every single egg we had here, no matter how it was made, was just perfection.



Starting off with a toilet. As it was around 12am when we landed, I was bleary-eyed when I headed to the airport washroom and was greeted with a talking toilet that also played music to hide the sound of your wee. I must say I found the music more embarrassing than helpful and thankfully was able to find the button to shut it off.



First order of business: convenience store food at Family Mart.

Cruising down Highway 1

Coastal highways and salty ocean air.

We began the drive from Los Angeles to the Bay Area bright and early. We passed by Malibu and got a quick pick-me-up from Coffee Bean (loved their hot Thai tea!).

Seoul searching

I can't make a post about Seoul without some sort of pun - believe me, I tried.
It's been about a year and a half since my time in South Korea, but I haven't forgot about it and even while I was there I was already awaiting my next visit.

We lived by the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, in a small apartment that barely fit us three, but was modern, clean, and had an accessible rooftop.

City of lost angels

I know that's not what L.A. means but there is something about that phrase that I love.

Our west coast adventure began with a flight to LAX in the early morning. We stopped by In-N-Out as our first stop and I sorry to say I still don't understand the hype...

Afterwards, we headed to Santa Monica for the some gnarly waves.